M ay 8, 1 9 9 1 -T h e Portland Observer - Page 5
Eugene Resident Breeds
Show Horses
Praise Be To Alaa: Abdelnaby
BY ULLYSSES TUCKER, JR.
and re a d ily acknow ledges that life has
been good to h im .
“ W hen I le ft hom e at thirteen,
people th o u g h t I was crazy. T h e y to ld
me that since I c o u ld n ’ t read o r w rite ,
there was no w ay I c o u ld m ake i t in
lif e ” , he rem embers. “ B u t” , he added,
“ m y parents alw ays to ld me a person
co u ld be a n yth in g they wanted to be i f
they p u t th e ir m in d to i t ”
A n d one lo o k at the m ore than 500
awards F rank has received, in c lu d in g
some 250 fo r 1st place, serves proper
notice that he has, * ‘ p u t his m in d to it . ”
seasons at D uke U n ive rsity. He m o stly
watches from the bench as a Trail Blazer,
but A la a know s that there are better
b rillia n c e and a w o rk ethic. W hen ques­
tioned about not being able to p a rtic i­
pate as much as he w o u ld lik e at the big
dance, A laa, cle a rly the m ost articulate
T ra il B lazer, adm its that i t ’ s tough.
“ M o st o f the tim e I ’ ve been a
c o n trib u to r at the big dance,” he said.
“ I t ’ s hard and fru stra tin g fo r me be­
days ahead and m uch to be learned
about the professional game.
A s a D uke B lue D e v il, A la a had
the o p p o rtu n ity to participate in three
N C A A F in a l F o u r tournam ents, (87-
cause there are things that I see o u t there
and things that are happening o u t there
and I ca n ’ t liv e it out. R ig h t now , m y
th in g is to observe and h o p e fu lly learn
fro m every situation I ’ m exposed to on
A la a A b d e ln a b y has a lre a d y
watched (o r played in ) enough N B A
basketball games to equal three college
the co u rt. T h is, the N B A P la y-o ffs, is a
new situation fo r me. I ’ ve got to leant
fro m this. H o p e fu lly , when m y tim e
does com e, I ’ l l be m ore aware o f the
in te n sity level and w h a t i t takes to
F o r a man w ith o u t a fo rm a l educa­
compete. It may sound a little ‘ clich e -
is h ’ to say that I ’ m go in g to w o rk hard
tio n , F rank W h ite is a v e ry sm art man.
“ Business sm art” w ith a m ix tu re o f
u n til m y tim e comes, b u t i t ’ s tru e .”
C ontrary to the ego’ s o f m ost N B A
players, A la a says that a young player
"s c h o o l sm a rt” , and “ street s m a rt.”
H e wanted to be a success, and he
knew in o rder to do so, he w o u ld have to
set his p rio ritie s . N u m b e r one was to
become fin a n cially secure. Num ber tw o,
w o rk fo r h im se lf. N u m b e r three, b u ild a
business that w o u ld com m and the re­
spect and patronage o f those w ith money.
Frank knew that people w ith money
attracts people w ith m oney. H e also
knew that a bad e n viro n m e n t was bad
fo r business. He was ca re fu l to associ­
ate h im s e lf w ith frie n d s w h o avoided
Frank White is shown riding champion show horse “Gems Amazing
Grace“
A s a tw e lve year o ld g ro w in g up in
lif e ’ s tem ptations.
“ I lost many friends because I did n ’t
fo o l w ith drugs o r a lc o h o l,” he claim s.
L e a v in g M is s is s ip p i at the age o f
to care fo r the horses. I t was there he
developed a love a ffa ir fo r the anim al
nineteen, he traveled to N ew O rleans,
Lo s A ngeles, O n ta rio , C a lifo rn ia ,
W ashington State, and fin a lly ended up
in Junction C ity , w here he today boards
being black and liv in g in the deep south,
(horse).
A t the age o f thirteen, he learned to
ride, to feed them p ro p e rly , to care fo r
and trains some 22 show horses fo r his
o p p o rtu n itie s, i f any, w o u ld be fa r and
them w hen they w ere sick, to shoe
c lie n ta l. He also has fiv e p rize w in n in g
fe w between.
them c o rre c tly , and to help the mares to
cham pions o f his o w n that he breeds fo r
H e also knew that the cotton fie ld s
o f M is s is s ip p i, o r any other jo b , w o u ld
n o t be a ttra ctive -n o t o n ly because o f
g ive b irth to th e ir colts. A s a teenager,
Frank W hite substituted books for horses.
It was a education w h ic h today ranks
him as one o f the m ost know ledgeable
and respected trainers and breeders o f
show horses in the co u n try today. H is
reputation as a “ Class A c t” extends
sale. The g o in g rate fo r those tw o horses
range fro m $25,000 and up.
So fa r business is good. N e x t w eek­
end, F rank travels to M t. H o o d w ith his
sights set on b rin g in g hom e at least 15
firs t place awards.
Y es fo lk s , fo r some one w h o n e i­
ther reads o r w rite s , F ra n k W h ite is an
Jackson, M ississip p i, Frank W h ite o f­
ten wondered w hat his future w o u ld be
lik e in years to come. He knew that
the c o lo r o f his skin , b u t m o s tly , be­
cause he co u ld n e ith e r read o r w rite .
A s the oldest o f nine brothers and
sisters, F rank knew he had to w o rk
some where to help his parents support
the fa m ily . So he w e n t to w o rk in a
stable fo r a w h ite businessman, helping
in to Canada as w e ll.
N o w f if t y years o ld , the Junction
am azing man.
C ity resident looks back o ver the years
ALAA ABDELNABY
90). D uke never w on the big one d u rin g
his tenure, but he received the o p p o rtu ­
n ity to showcase his talents on national
te le visio n , meet athletes that w ill be
friends fo r life , and p ic k up some nice
je w e lry to say the least. P la yin g the role
o f a bridesm aid three tim es in real life
w o u ld send m ost people into hiberna­
tio n o r erode o n e ’ s self-esteem. Bas­
ke tb a ll is a d iffe re n t story. A laa is used
to being at the b ig dance. The o n ly
diffe re n ce between the b ig dance going
on at M e m o ria l C oliseum this week,
com pared to o ther sites he’ s know n in
the past, is that A la a ’ s not dancing
m uch. I t ’ s been m o stly toe tapping from
the bench, p la yin g hard against C lif f
R obinson in pre-gam e w arm ups, or
g o o fin g o f f w ith one o f his little * ‘ b a ll-
boy frie n d s ” . W hen he has been called
out to dance, A la a has shown flashes o f
o r any player can learn fro m s ittin g on
the bench. “ Y o u can learn h ow the
game is re a lly p la ye d,” he said. I t ’ s that
attitude, said B lazer coach R ic k A d e l­
man, that w ill make him a better p la ye r
and enhance his stay in the league. ‘ ‘ He
has a great attitude and he w orks very
hard. A la a is very good fo r this team
too. Some guys w o u ld have a problem
w ith his role, b u t he sees the b ig picture.
He know s that he can pla y in this league
and he know s that he has a lo t to leant.
W e are glad to have h im .”
and M a rk B rya n t prepare fo r games and
carry th e m se lve so ff the co u rt has taught
me a lo t to o .”
W hen questioned about how he
m aintains his self-esteem and c o n fi­
dence on the bench, the B lo o m fie ld , NJ
native shook his head slightly and looked
this re p o rte r stra ig h t in to the eyes.
“ I t ’ s h a rd ” , he said . “ Y o u r ego
takes a beating. Y o u w ant to be out
there, yo u lo ve to p la y the game, and
you are used to begin looked at as someone
im p o rta n t o r as an im p o rta n t cog (in the
w heel) and when y o u ’ re not, i t ’ s hard to
a ll o f a sudden put y o u r se lf-w o rth on
one th in g and say ‘ o ka y, this is some­
th in g I ’ m good at o r not good a t” . It
goes d o w n h ill fro m there.
A re you suggesting that you w o u ld
do som ething m uch d iffe re n t than the
p la ye r yo u fin d y o u rs e lf w atching fro m
the bench?
“ N o t ju s t that. I t ’ s so easy to do
that. R eporters do it a ll the tim e. T hey
sit there and say ‘ G od, w h y d id n 't they
make that p la y? ’ I t ’ s a lo t harder than
they th in k i t is. There have been tim es
w hen I ’ ve gone in to games and i t ’ s not
as easy as it looks. M o re than anything,
there is a b ig part o f me that loves to
play. A ll o f me loves to play. P ick up
games, one-on-ones, games w ith b a ll-
boys, and I know m y o p p o rtu n ity is not
there yet: I ’ m not w o rrie d , though,
because it w ill be there.”
T h e re ’ s n o t m uch that bothers A la a
B o rn in L a iro , E gyp t, A laa was the
25th player selected in the 1990 N B A
these days, except fo r the chants o f
“ A la a , A laa, A laa, A la a ” when the
draft. A strong fin a l fo u r appearance
and a so lid senior season (15.1 ppg and
6.6. ppg) really increased his stock tre ­
Blazers are cle a rly ahead o r out o f a
basketball game. “ I ’ m n o t a v ic to ry
c ig a r” , said A la a in reference to a story
m endously. He o n ly averaged 8.5ppg
fo r his career at D uke U n iv e rs ity and he
published in W illia m e tte W eek b y the
ofte n c ritic iz e d Jim Patton. “ I ’ m a bas­
k e tb a ll player.
A la a doesn’ t w o rry m uch because
he has one o f the best jo b s in A m e rica ,
played in the shadows o f D anny Ferry,
Johnny D aw kins, and D a vid H ender­
son. The average 3.1 ppg and 2. lp p g as
a B lazer in 6.7, m inutes (43 appear­
ances).
“ I learned a great deal at D u ke ,”
he said. “ It prepared me w e ll fo r this
level, but there are s till adjustments.
Things lik e handling other players and
w hat they lik e to do (o ffe n sive ly and
defensively), refs, crow ds, and w atch­
ing guys like B uck (W illia m s ), D uck,
a fin e group o f co-w orkers, and being at
the b ig dance is w h a t he enjoys the
most. Rem em ber, he’ s used to being at
the big dance. A la a ju s t w ant to ‘ shake-
a -le g ’ and break in those N ik e tennis
shoes he’ s w earing, in the N B A p la y ­
o ffs and cham pionship series that is-n o t
in warmups.
Western Confernece Semi-finals
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